All Packed And Ready To Go

We’re leaving today to go see my grandparents (all three of them live in the same town, about fifteen minutes away from each other) in Lawton, Oklahoma. I got off work this morning and came home to pack for our trip. I had to dig through the garage for the big suitcase and various duffle bags, as a lot of them were used in the move from our old apartment to the new house and, sadly, we are STILL not done unpacking all our stuff. I found the dufflebags first, and when i finally located the suitcase (which happened to be in my bedroom closet, not in the garage), i put it on the bed and looked at it.

Though it looks nothing like it, the suitcase reminds me of the old brown suitcase my family used to take on vacation when my sister and i were kids. As i was digging through my dresser drawers, i reminisced a bit about the vacations we used to take and how much fun we always had (except for that time San puked in the back of the red Dodge Colt). Two details remained constant no matter where we went: we always drove, and the old brown suitcase. My dad was CRAZY anal about how much we could pack to take with us places. Our whole family of four put our clothes into the one suitcase. We had to pick our clothes carefully, because we had to all fit our stuff in it. No extras. I remember submitting my clothing selection for my dad’s approval before cramming them into the suitcase. He usually made me put several items back before i received the O.K.

Snapping back to the present, i realized that the more i’d thought about the claustrophobic conditions of the old brown suitcase, the more clothing i’d packed into my current black and red one. I’m only going to be gone for fourish days, but i’d packed enough clothes for a week for each of us. Feeling a little silly, i started pulling clothing out of the suitcase to return to the drawers. As i removed each shirt, i reconsidered and put it back in the suitcase, thinking i might be in the mood to wear it that day. That’s when it hit me: I’ve got space for 7 days worth of clothing for two, then damn it, i’m taking 7 days worth of clothing for two! I laughed at myself and started tossing clothes in, with reckless abandon. I even packed a few things i’m POSITIVE i won’t feel like wearing, but i didn’t care. This is my suitcase, and i am going to over-pack. Just because i can.